Book marker



Oct. 9, 1934. H A. THOMSON 1,976,465

BOOK MARKER Filed April 21, 1953 Patented Got. 9, 1934 'narran 'STATES PATENT oFFC'ii Application April 2l, 1933, Serial No. 667,270 In Great Britain April 26, 1932 7 Claims.

This invention relates to book markers, and it has for a primary object to provide a simple and effectual construction of book marker.

Another object is to provide a book marker 45 which may readily be applied to any desired leaf of a book without risk of damaging -said leaf.

A further object is to provide a book marker which is arranged so as lto grip firmly the leaf to -which it is attached so that it may be used repeatedly Without fear` of becoming dislodged.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing which is shown to` an enlarged scale, and in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of one form of book marker;

Figure 2 is a side elevation showing the spring in dotted lines;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the spring removed from the book marker; and

Figures 4, 5 and 6 show a modified form of construction and correspond with Figures 1, 2 and 3 respectively.

In the drawing the book marker comprises a pair of superimposed tongues and 11, conveniently formed from sheet Celluloid or like material, having at their upper outer ends a spacing piece 12 disposed between them. The area covered by the spacing piece 12 is rmly cemented with a suitable adhesive so as to form a tab which serves as the index device, and which also retains tongues 10 and 11 in their correct relative positions. The side portions of the tab 13 are notched as indicated at 14 for the accommodation of a wire spring 15 which serves to press together the tongues 10 and 11.

As shown the spring 15 is of double U-shaped conguration when viewed from the front, the ends 16 being joined or not as desired, while in k side elevation i-t has an inverted U shape. In l0-order to provide the improved gripping action which forms one of the features of the present invention, the rear parts 17 of the spring 15 are displaced from the corresponding ends 16 upon `the front part of the spring, and are preferably arranged so as to extend in arcs which are concentric with the curvature of the ends 16, or are formed to lie along arcs having their centres disposed upon or adjacent the ends 16. In this way a pair o-f comparatively large areas of pressure are produced owing to the flexible nature of the material forming the tongues 10 and 11, these areas in the case of the example shown in Figure 1 to a large extent overlapping as indicated rby the broken lines at 18. The wire spring 15 which may conveniently be completely formed and tempered before application to the book marker is initially shaped as shown in Figure 3 so as to have the requisite tendency to pinch the tongues 10 and 11, while the rear portion of the spring is so constructed that the distance separating the upper parts of its limbs is initially slightly less than the distance between the notches 14 so that the spring slips firmly into placewhen applied to the book marker land cannot become accidentally dislodged. In order to prevent damage to the book marker or disgurem'ent of books under damp conditions, thespring 15 is preferably composed of rustless metal, is plated or is otherwise treated so as to be resistant to corrosion.

As shown, the rear tongue 11 is substantially longer than the front tongue 10, and it is found in practice that the tongue 11 can advantageously be constructed from opaque or translucent material, while the front tongue 10 is formed 75 from transparent material. This permits the opening between the tongues to be readily perceived and enables the book marker to be applied to a leaf with the minimum trouble and likelihood of damage to the leaf. Moreover, a suitable symbol or other reference matter indicated by the numeral 9 in Figure 1 may be incorporated upon the spacing piece 12 so as to be clearly visible through the materiall of the front tongue 10, and at the same time be protected thereby against the disguring influences of damage and dirt. AIf desired, also'a corresponding symbol may be disposed upon the back of the book marker, and in this case the symbols are preferably of different colours so as to be readily distinguishable.

A modified construction of book marker shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6 is more suitable for those of larger dimensions, and it employs a form of spring in which the area of pressure is more distributed. In this case the front limbs of the spring are disposed outside the U dened by the rear part of the spring, and the end portions 16 are shaped so as to lie substantially upon arcs which are concentric with the corners 19 of the 100 rear part of the spring 15 so as to produce areas of pressure substantially in the manner indicated at 18.

What I claim isz- 1. A book marker comprising a pair of superimposed flat tongues of sheet material and means mounted on the tongues for resiliently pressing said tongues together for gripping the marginal portion of a book leaf, corresponding ends of the tongues being rigidly secured together so as to form a tab which extends outside the edges of the leaves when the marker is in use.

2. A book marker comprising a pair of superimposed flat tongues of sheet material, a spacing piece between them, and means mounted on the tongues for resiliently pressing said tongues together for gripping the marginal portion of a book leaf, corresponding ends of the tongues being adhesively secured together with the spacing piece between'them' so' as to form a'tab which extends outside the edges of the leaves when the marker is in use.

3. A book marker comprising a pair of superimposed flat tongues of sheet material and means Y of -U-shape in frontV elevation and inverted vU configuration in; side elevation, `corresponding ends of the tongues being attached together with the spacing piece between them so asito form a` tab Which extends outside the edges of the leaves when the marker is in use and'which is notched 'at its` side portions to receive and locate the wire spring. g

, 5.*A book marker comprising a pair of superimposed flat tongues of sheet material, and means mounted on the tongues for resiliently pressing said tongues together, said means comprising a Wire spring of U shape in front elevation and inverted U-confguration in side elevation, the front and rear parts of said spring being oiset one from the other to produce an extended area of pressure between the front and rear tongues. l v f 6'. A book marker comprisinga pair of superimposed lat tongues of sheet material and means mounted on the tongues for resiliently pressing said tongues together for gripping the marginal portion of a book leaf, corresponding ends of the tongues being attached together so as to form a tab which extends outside the edges of the leaves When the marker is in use, the front tongue being shorter and being composed of transparent` material and the rear tongue of non-transparent material.

7. A book marker including a pair of superposed tongues, one of said tongues having indicia thereon and the other of said ktongues Vbeing transparent, a spacing piece connecting correspending ends of the tongues, and means mount- 100 ed on the tongues forvresiliently urgingr s aid tongues toward each other for gripping the 'marginal portion of a book leaf, corresponding ends of the tongues and the vspacing piece cooperating for dening a ytab adapted to extend above 105 the' edges` of the book leaves 'Whenthema'rker is in use.

HUGH ALEXANDER THOMSON. 

